If anyone is diversifying their investment portfolio in the energy sector, it is Bill Gates. The tycoon has invested in solid-state batteries, stones that store solar energy, sustainable air conditioning, nuclear fusion, new fission reactors and even butter made with CO2. The latest are floating platforms with the ability to fold.
The first Aikido One platform. Aikido Technologies, a California company backed by Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Fellows program, announced that its first Aikido One platform is ready to set sail.
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This is a 1:4 scale model of the semi-submersible floating wind platform that Aikido has designed to house offshore wind turbines from any manufacturer. A promising technology that arrives when wind energy needs it most, especially in the United States.
What’s new? The platform has an innovative design with pins at the joints that allow it to be folded up to occupy a third of the space in shipyards or ports. This feature in itself reduces logistics costs in the sector by 25%, but there is another even more interesting advantage.
The first Aikido One platform was assembled in less than 40 hours, 10 times faster than it takes to assemble a conventional offshore wind platform. The promise: accelerate the installation of off-shore projects by up to an order of magnitude.
Why is it interesting? Aikido has demonstrated with this prototype that costs can be reduced and the implementation of offshore wind energy projects can be accelerated based on a novel design. The platform and its components can be transported on traditional barges and assembled by small vessels, even with turbines larger than 15 MW.
40 hours of work is a new standard in floating platform construction. Aikido One is designed to be produced locally on the Gulf of Mexico coast, taking advantage of the area’s marine structure supply and construction ecosystem.
What’s coming now? Aikido has signed an agreement with the port of Pascagoula, in the state of Mississippi, to test the platform in deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. It will transport the turbine nacelle horizontally to further speed up assembly.
Imagen | Aikido Technologies
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